St. Mary's Church, Lübeck
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St Mary's Church | ||
---|---|---|
St Mary's Church of Lübeck | ||
Marienkirche | ||
St. Marien zu Lübeck | ||
Style Brick Gothic | | |
Groundbreaking | c. 1250/1265 | |
Completed | c. 1350 | |
Specifications | ||
Length | 102 metres (335 ft) (total length) 70 metres (230 ft) (Length of the middle nave)
| |
Height | 125 metres (410 ft) (tower) 47.5 metres (156 ft) (roof top) 38.5 metres (126 ft) (vault height in the main nave) 20.5 metres (67 ft) (vault height in the side naves)
| |
Floor area | 4,400 square metres (47,361 sq ft) | |
Number of spires | 2 | |
Bells | 9 (+37 carillon) | |
Tenor bell weight | 5,817 kilograms (5.725 long tons) | |
Clergy | ||
Provost | Petra Kallies | |
Pastor(s) |
| |
Laity | ||
Organist(s) | Johannes Unger |
The Lübeck Marienkirche (officially St Marien zu Lübeck) is a medieval basilica in the city centre of Lübeck, Germany. Built between 1265 and 1352, the church is located on the highest point of Lübeck's old town island within the Hanseatic merchants' quarter, which extends uphill from the warehouses on the River Trave to the church. As the main parish church of the citizens and the city council of Lübeck, it was built close to the town hall and the market.
The church was built as a three-aisled
St Mary's epitomizes
History of the building
In 1160,
After 1160, a wooden church was built on the site of the Marienkirche in the middle of the town, which was first documented in 1170 together with St. Petri as a market church. Already at the end of the 12th century it was replaced by a Romanesque brick church that existed until the middle of the 13th century. Romanesque sculptures from the furnishings of this second Marienkirche are now on display in the St. Annen Museum. The sixth pair of pillars in the nave (from the west) dating from around 1200 can be seen as a remnant of the Romanesque Marienkirche in today's High Gothic building.
The design of the three-aisled basilica was based on the Gothic cathedrals in France (
No one had ever before built a brick church this high and with a
The church was built close to the Lübeck Town Hall and the market, and it dwarfed the nearby Romanesque Lübeck Cathedral, the church of the bishop established by Henry the Lion. It was meant as a symbol of the desire for freedom on the part of the Hanseatic traders and the secular authorities of the city, which had been granted the status of a free imperial city (Reichsfreiheit), making the city directly subordinate to the emperor, in 1226. It was also intended to underscore the pre-eminence of the city in relation to the other cities of the Hanseatic League, which was being formed at about the same time (1356).
The Chapel of Indulgences (Briefkapelle) was added to the east of the south tower in 1310. It was both a vestibule and a chapel and, with its portal, was the church's second main entrance from the market. Probably originally dedicated to
In 1289 the town council built its own chapel, known as the Bürgermeisterkapelle (Burgomasters' Chapel), at the southeast corner of the ambulatory, the join being visible from the outside where there is a change from glazed to unglazed brick. It was in this chapel, from the large pew that still survives, that the newly elected council used to be installed. On the upper floor of the chapel is the treasury, where important documents of the city were kept. This part of the church is still in the possession of the town.
Before 1444, a chapel consisting of a single bay was added to the eastern end of the ambulatory, its five walls forming five-eighths of an octagon. This was the last Gothic extension to the church. It was used for celebrating the so-called
In total, St Mary's Church has nine larger chapels and ten smaller ones that serve as sepulchral chapels and are named after the families of the Lübeck city council that used them and endowed them.
Destruction and restoration
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In an
Among the artefacts destroyed was the famous Totentanzorgel (
Also destroyed in the fire were the mediaeval
The glass window in one of the chapels has an alphabetic list of major towns in the pre-1945 eastern territory of the German Reich. Because of the destruction it suffered in World War II, St. Mary's Church is one of the
The church was protected by a makeshift roof for the rest of the war, and the vaulted ceiling of the chancel was repaired. Reconstruction proper began in 1947, and was largely complete by 1959. In view of the previous damage by fire, the old wooden construction of the roof and spires was not replaced by a new wooden construction. All church spires in Lübeck were reconstructed using a special system involving lightweight concrete blocks underneath the copper roofing. The copper covering matched the original design and the concrete roof would avoid the possibility of a second fire. A glass window on the north side of the church commemorates the builder, Erich Trautsch , who invented this system.
In 1951, the 700th anniversary of the church was celebrated under the reconstructed roof; for the occasion, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer donated the new tenor bell, and the Memorial Chapel Against War with broken bells in the South Tower was inaugurated.
In the 1950s, there was a long debate about the design of the interior, not just the paintings (see below). The predominant view was that destruction had restored the essential, pure form.[4] The redesign was intended to facilitate the dual function that St. Mary's had at that time, being both the diocesan church and the parish church. In the end, the church held a limited competition, inviting submissions from six architects, including Gerhard Langmaack and Denis Boniver , the latter's design being largely accepted on 8 February 1958. At the meeting, the bishop, Heinrich Meyer , vehemently – and successfully – demanded the removal of the Fredenhagen altar (see below).
The redesign of the interior according to Boniver's plans was carried out in 1958–59. Since underfloor heating was being installed under a completely new floor, the remaining memorial slabs of
At the same time, a treasure chamber was made for the Danzig
The gilded roof spire, which extends 30 metres (98 ft) higher than the nave roof, was recreated from old designs and photographs in 1980.
Lothar Malskat and the frescos
The heat of the blaze in 1942 dislodged large sections of plaster, revealing the original decorative paintings of the Middle Ages, some of which were documented by photograph during the Second World War.[5] In 1948 the task of restoring these gothic frescos was given to Dietrich Fey. In what became the largest counterfeit art scandal after the Second World War, Fey hired local painter Lothar Malskat to assist with this task, and together they used the photographic documentation to restore and recreate a likeness to the original walls. Since no paintings of the clerestory of the chancel were available, Fey had Malskat invent one. Malskat "supplemented" the restorations with his own work in the style of the 14th century.[6] The forgery was only cleared up after Malskat reported his deeds to the authorities in 1952, and he and Fey received prison sentences in 1954.[7] The major fakes were later removed from the walls, on the instructions of the bishop.[8]
Lothar Malskat played an important part in the novel The Rat by Günter Grass.[9]
Interior decoration
St. Mary's Church was generously endowed with donations from the city council, the guilds, families, and individuals. At the end of the
- A bronze baptismal font made by Hans Apengeter (1337). Until 1942 it was at the west end of the church; it is now in the middle of the chancel. It holds 406 litres (89 imperial gallons; 714 imperial pints), almost the same as a Hamburg or Bremen beer barrel, which holds 405 litres (89 imperial gallons; 713 imperial pints).[10]
- Darsow Madonna from 1420, heavily damaged in 1942, restored from hundreds of individual pieces, put back in place again in 1989
- Tabernacle from 1479, 9.5 metres (31 ft) high, made by Klaus Grude using about 1000 individual bronze parts, some gilded, on the north wall of the chancel
- Winged altarpiece by Christian Swarte (c. 1495) with Woman of the Apocalypse, now installed behind the main altar
- Bronze burial slab by Bernt Notke for the Hutterock family (1505), in the Prayer Chapel (Gebetskapelle) in the north ambulatory
- Of the .
- In the ambulatory, sandstone Washing of the Feet and the Last Supper; to the south, Christ in the garden of Gethsemaneand his capture. The Last Supper relief includes a detail associated with Lübeck: a little mouse gnawing at the base of a rose bush. Touching it is supposed to mean that the person will never again return to Lübeck – or will have good luck, depending on the version of the superstition.
- Remains of the original pews and the Antwerp altarpiece (1518), in the Lady Chapel (Singers' Chapel)
- Henning von der Heide(c. 1505)
- St. Anthony, a stone statue, donated in 1457 by the town councillor Hermann Sundesbeke , a member of the Brotherhood of St. Anthony
- Remains of the original gothic pews in the Burgomasters' Chapel in the southern ambulatory
- The Lamentation of Christ, one of the main works of the Friedrich Overbeck, in the Prayer Chapel in the north ambulatory
- The choir screens separating the choir from the ambulatory are recent reconstructions. The walls that had been built for this purpose in 1959 were removed in the 1990s. The brass bars of the choir screens were mostly still intact, but the wooden parts had been almost completely destroyed by fire in 1942. The oak crown and frame were reconstructed on the basis of what remained of the original construction.
Antwerp altarpiece
The Antwerp altarpiece in the Lady Chapel (Singers' Chapel) was created in 1518. It was donated for the chapel in 1522 by Johann Bone, a merchant from Geldern. After the chapel was converted into a confessional chapel in 1790, the altarpiece was moved around the church several times. During the Second World War, it was in the Chapel of Indulgences (Briefkapelle) and thus escaped destruction. The double-winged altarpiece depicts the life of the Virgin Mary in 26 painted and carved scenes.
- The fully closed position (nowadays, this is the position in the Christian Holy Week before Easter Sunday), shows the Annunciation by the Master of 1518.
- With one pair of wings open (as seen on fasting days) the paintings are of scenes from the lives of Jesus and Mary:
- in the centre are four paintings, depicting,
- the Adoration of the Shepherds
- the Adoration of the Magi
- the Circumcision of Jesus, and
- the Flight into Egypt
- and the wings show
- in the centre are four paintings, depicting,
- With both pairs of wings open (on feast days):
- the carved centrepiece depicts
- the Death of the Virgin Mary,
- with the death scene in the centre;
- above that was a group depicting the Assumption of Mary but it was stolen in 1945;
- below it is the funeral procession;
- on the left is the Annunciation, and
- on the right is Mary's entombment.
- the Death of the Virgin Mary,
- the carved left wing depicts
- the birth of Mary at the top and
- the Presentation of Jesus at the Templeat the bottom, and
- the carved right wing depicts
- the Tree of Jesse above, and
- the twelve-year-old Jesus in the temple below.
- the carved centrepiece depicts
Before 1869, the wings of the
Memorials
In the renaissance and baroque periods, the church space contained so many memorials that it became like a hall of fame of the Lübeck gentry.[11] Memorials in the main nave, allowed from 1693, had to be made of wood, for structural reasons, but those in the side naves could also be made of marble. Of the 84 memorials that were still extant in the 20th century, almost all of the wooden ones were destroyed by the air raid of 1942, but 17, mostly stone ones on the walls of the side naves survived, some heavily damaged. Since these were mostly baroque works, they were deliberately ignored in the first phase of reconstruction, restoration beginning in 1973. They give an impression of how richly St. Mary's church was once furnished. The oldest is that of Hermann von Dorne , a mayor who died in 1594, a heraldic design with mediaeval echoes. The memorial to Johann Füchting , a former councillor and Hanseatic merchant who died in 1637, is a Dutch work of the transitional period between the Renaissance and Baroque times by the sculptor Aris Claeszon who worked in Amsterdam. After the phase of exuberant
- the councillor Hartwig von Stiten , made in 1699;
- the councillor Adolf Brüning , made in 1706;
- the mayor Hieronymus von Dorne (who died in 1704) and
- the mayor Anton Winckler (1707),
the last one being the only one to remain undamaged. In the same year, the Lübeck sculptor Hans Freese created the memorial for councillor Gotthard Kerkring (who had died in 1705), whose oval portrait is held by a winged figure of death. A well-preserved example of the memorials of the next generation is the one for Peter Hinrich Tesdorpf , a mayor who died in 1723.
The Sepulchral Chapel of the Tesdorpf family contains a bust by
The Fredenhagen Altarpiece
The main item from the Baroque period, an altar with an altarpiece 18 metres (59 feet) high, donated by the merchant Thomas Fredenhagen and made by the Antwerp sculptor Thomas Quellinus from marble and porphyry (1697) was seriously damaged in 1942. After a lengthy debate lasting from 1951 to 1959, Heinrich Meyer , the bishop at the time, prevailed, and it was decided not to restore the altar but to replace it with a simple altar of limestone, with a bronze crucifix made by Gerhard Marcks. Speaking of the historical significance of the altar, the director of the Lübeck Museum at the time said that it was the only work of art of European stature that the Protestant Church in Lübeck had produced after the Reformation.[12]
Individual items from the altarpiece are now in the ambulatory: the Calvary group with Mary and John, the marble predella with a relief of the Last Supper and the three crowned figures, the allegorical sculptures of Belief and Hope, and the Resurrected Christ. The other remains of the altar and altarpiece are now stored over the vaulted ceiling between the towers. The debate as to whether it is possible and desirable to restore the altar as a major work of baroque art of European stature is ongoing.
Stained glass
Except for a few remains, the air raid of 1942 destroyed all the windows, including the stained glass windows that Carl Julius Milde had installed at Saint Mary's after they were rescued from the St. Mary Magdalene Church when the St. Mary Magdalene's Priory was demolished in the 19th century, and including the windows made by Professor Alexander Linnemann from Frankfurt in the late 19th century. In the reconstruction, simple diamond-pane
- The windows in the Singers' Chapel (Lady Chapel) depict the coat of arms of the Hanseatic towns of Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck, and the lyrics of Buxtehude's Lübeck cantata, Schwinget euch himmelan (BuxWV 96).
- The monumental west window, designed by Day of Judgment.
- The window of the Memorial chapel (Gedenkkapelle) in the South Tower (which holds the destroyed bells), depicts coats of arms of towns, states and provinces of former eastern territories of Germany.
- Both windows in the Danse Macabre Chapel (Totentanzkapelle), which were designed by Emperor Barbarossa.[13]
- In 1981–82, windows by Johannes Schreiter were installed in the Chapel of Indulgences (Briefkapelle). Their ragged diamond pattern evokes not only the destruction of the church but also the torn nets of the Disciples (Luke 6).
- In December 2002, the tympanum window was added above the north portal of the Danse Macabre Chapel after a design by Markus Lüpertz.
This window, like the windows by Johannes Schreiter in the Chapel of Indulgences (Briefkapelle), was manufactured and assembled by Derix Glass Studios in Taunusstein.
Churchyard
Saint Mary's Churchyard , with its views of the north face of the Lübeck Town Hall , the Kanzleigebäude , and the Marienwerkhaus has the ambiance of a mediaeval town.
The architectural features include the subjects of Lübeck legends; a large block of granite to the right of the entrance was supposedly not left there by the builders but put there by the Devil.
To the north and west of the church, the courtyard is now an open space, mediaeval buildings having been removed. At the corner between Schüsselbuden and Mengstraße are the remaining stone foundations of the Maria am Stegel Chapel (1415), which served as a bookshop before the Second World War. In the late 1950s, it was decided not to reconstruct it, and the remaining external walls of the ruins were cleared away. On Mengstraße, opposite the churchyard, is a building with facades from the 18th century: the clergy house known as die Wehde , which also gave its name to the courtyard that lies behind it, the Wehdehof.
The war memorial, created in 1929 by the sculptor Hermann Joachim Pagels 1929 on behalf of the congregation of the church to commemorate their dead, is made of Swedish granite from Karlshamn. The inscription reads (in translation):
in memory of their dead
1914 1918
(to which was added after the Second World War)
and
1939 1945Pastors
Since the Reformation, St. Mary's Church has been where the top Lutheran clergyman of the city preached. Until 1796 this was the
- 1532–1548: Hermann Bonnus
- 1553–1567: Valentin Curtius
- 1575–1600: Andreas Pouchenius the Elder
- 1613–1622: Georg Stampelius
- 1624–1643: Nicolaus Hunnius
- 1646–1671: Meno Hanneken
- 1675–1683: Samuel Pomarius
- 1689–1698: August Pfeiffer
- 1702–1728: Georg Heinrich Götze
- 1730–1767: Johann Gottlob Carpzov
- 1771–1774: Johann Andreas Cramer
- 1779–1796: Johann Adolph Schinmeier
- 1892–1909: Leopold Friedrich Ranke
- 1914–1919: Johannes Becker
- 1919–1933: Johannes Evers
- 1934–1945: Erwin Balzer , bishop
- 1948–1955: Johannes Pautke , bishop
- 1956–1972: Heinrich Meyer
- 1972–1977: Karlheinz Stoll , senior clergyman
- 1979–2001: Niels Hasselmann , provost
- 2001–2008: Ralf Meister, provost
- Since 2008: Petra Kallies, provost
Other famous pastors at St. Mary's were:
- 1614–1648: Michael Siricius , priest from 1614, principal pastor from 1625
- 1626–1668: Jacob Stolterfoht, priest from 1626, principal pastor from 1649
- 1706–1743: Polyhistor
- 1743–1750: Christoph Anton Erasmi , priest
- 1751–1759: Johann Hermann Becker , principal pastor
- 1829–1867: Johann Funk , principal pastor
- 1832–1884: Peter Hermann Münzenberger
- 1966–1979: Hans-Joachim Thilo
Once there were three generations in succession:
- 1713–1750: Bernhard Heinrich von der Hude (1681–1750) , priest from 1713, principal pastor from 1743
- 1757–1795: Bernhard Heinrich von der Hude (1731–1795) , priest from 1757, principal pastor from 1775, senior clergyman from 1788
- 1794–1828: Bernhard Heinrich von der Hude (1768–1828) , 1794 priest, from 1800 principal pastor.
Music at St. Mary's
Music played an important part in the life of St. Mary's as far back as the Middle Ages. The Lady Chapel (Singers' Chapel), for instance, had its own choir. After the Reformation and Johannes Bugenhagen's Church Order, the Lübeck Katharineum school choir provided the singing for religious services. In return the school received the income of the chapel's trust fund. Until 1802, the
Main organ
St. Mary's is known to have had an organ in the 14th century, since the occupation "organist" is mentioned in a will from 1377.[14] The old great organ was built in 1516–1518 under the direction of Martin Flor on the west wall as a replacement for the great organ of 1396. It had 32 stops, 2 manuals and a pedalboard. This organ, "in all probability the first and only Gothic organ with a thirty-two-foot
was repeatedly expanded and rebuilt over the centuries. For instance, the organist and organ-builder Barthold Hering (who died in 1555) carried out a number of repairs and additions; in 1560/1561 Jacob Scherer added a chest division with a third manual. From 1637 to 1641, Friederich Stellwagen carried out a number of modifications. Otto Diedrich Richborn added three registers in 1704. In 1733, Konrad Büntung exchanged four registers, changed the arrangement of the manuals and added couplers. In 1758, his son, Christoph Julius Bünting added a small swell division with three voices, the action being controllable from the breast division manual.[16] By the beginning of the 19th century the organ had 3 manuals and a pedalboard, 57 registers and 4,684 pipes. In 1851, however, a completely new organ was installed – built by Johann Friedrich Schulze, in the spirit of the time, with four manuals, a pedalboard, and 80 voices, behind the historic organ case by Benedikt Dreyer, which was restored and added to by Carl Julius Milde. This great organ was destroyed in 1942 and was replaced in 1968 by what was then the largest mechanical-action organ in the world. It was built by Kemper & Son. It has 5 manuals and a pedalboard, 100 stops and 8,512 pipes; the longest are 11 metres (36 feet), the smallest is the size of a cigarette. The tracker action operates electrically and has free combinations; the stop tableau is duplicated.[17]Danse macabre organ (choir organ)
The Dance macabre organ (Totentanzorgel) was older than the old great organ. It was installed in 1477 on the east side of the north arm of the "transept" in the Danse Macabre Chapel (so named because of the Danse Macabre painting that hung there) and was used for the musical accompaniment of the
In 1955 the organ builders Kemper & Son restored the Danse Macabre organ in accordance with its 1937 dimensions, but now in the northern part of the ambulatory, in the direction of the raised choir. Its original place is now occupied by the astronomical clock. This post-War organ, which was very prone to malfunction, was replaced in 1986 by a new Danse Macabre organ, built by Führer Co. in Wilhelmshaven and positioned in the same place as its predecessor. It has a mechanical tracker action, with four manuals and a pedalboard, 56 stops and approximately 5,000 pipes. [18] This organ is particularly suited for accompanying prayers and services, as well as an instrument for older organ music up to Bach.
As a special tradition at St Mary's, on
Other instruments
There used to be an organ on the rood screen, as a basso continuo instrument for the choir that was located there – the church's third organ. In 1854 the breast division that was removed from the Great Organ (built in 1560–1561 by Jacob Scherer) when it was converted was installed here. This "rood screen organ" had one manual and seven stops and was replaced in 1900 by a two-manual pneumatic organ made by the organ builder Emanuel Kemper, the old organ box being retained. This organ, too, was destroyed in 1942.
In the Chapel of Indulgences (Briefkapelle) there is a chamber organ originally from East Prussia. It has been in the chapel since 1948. It has a single manual and eight voices, with separate control of bass and descant parts. It was built by Johannes Schwarz in 1723 and from 1724 was the organ of the Schloßkapelle (Castle Chapel) of Dönhofstädt near
Organists
Two 17th-century organists, especially, shaped the development of the musical tradition of St. Mary's: Franz Tunder from 1642 until his death in 1667, and his successor and son-in-law, Dieterich Buxtehude, from 1668 to 1707. Both were defining representatives of the
With their evening concerts, Tunder and Buxtehude were the first to introduce church concerts independent of religious services. Buxtehude developed a fixed format, with a series of five concerts on the two last Sundays of the Trinity period (i.e. the last two Sundays before Advent) and the second, third, and fourth Sunday in Advent. This very successful series of concerts was continued by Buxtehude's successors, Johann Christian Schieferdecker (1679–1732), Johann Paul Kunzen (1696–1757), his son Adolf Karl Kunzen (1720–1781) and Johann Wilhelm Cornelius von Königslöw.
For the evening concerts they each composed a series of Biblical oratorios, including Israels Abgötterey in der Wüsten [Israel's Idol Worship in the Desert] (1758), Absalon (1761) and Goliath (1762) by Adolf Kunzen and ''Die Rettung des Kindes Mose [The Finding of Baby Moses] and Der geborne Weltheiland [The Saviour of the World is born] (1788), Tod, Auferstehung and Gericht [Death, Resurrection and Judgment] (1790), and Davids Klage am Hermon nach dem 42ten Psalm [David's Lament on Mount Hermon (Psalm 42)] (1793) by Königslöw.
Around 1810 this tradition ended for a time. Attitudes towards music and the Church had changed, and external circumstances (the occupation by Napoleon's troops and the resulting financial straits) made such expensive concerts impossible.
In the early 20th century it was the organist Walter Kraft (1905–1977) who tried to revive the tradition of the evening concerts, starting with an evening of Bach's organ music, followed by an annual programme of combined choral and organ works. In 1954 Kraft created the Lübecker Totentanz (Lübeck Danse Macabre) as a new type of evening concert.
The tradition of evening concerts continues today under the current organist (since 2009), Johannes Unger.
List of organists
- c. 1516–1518 (?) Barthold Hering
- David Ebel –1572:
- 1597–1611: Heinrich Marcus
- 1612–1616: Hermann Ebel
- 1616–1640: Peter Hasse
- 1642–1667: Franz Tunder
- 1668–1707: Dietrich Buxtehude
- 1707–1732: Johann Christian Schieferdecker
- 1733–1757: Johann Paul Kunzen
- 1757–1781: Adolf Karl Kunzen
- 1781–1833: Johann Wilhelm Cornelius von Königslöw
- 1834–1844: Gottfried Herrmann
- 1845–1886: Hermann Jimmerthal
- 1887–1929: Karl Lichtwark
- 1929–1973: Walter Kraft
- 1973–2009: Ernst-Erich Stender
- since 2009: Johannes Unger
The Lübeck Boys Choir at St. Mary’s
The Lübeck Boys Choir at St. Mary’s (Lübecker Knabenkantorei an St. Marien) has been at St. Mary’s since 1970. It was founded as the Lübecker Kantorei in 1948. The choir sings regularly at services on Sundays and religious festivals. The performance of the St John Passion on Good Friday has become a Lübeck tradition as well as the concerts Nachtklänge, taking place twice each summer, and the Weihnachtssingen, happening four times each December.
St. Mary’s Church, Lübeck, today
Congregation
Since the establishment of Johannes Bugenhagen's Lutheran Church Order by the town council in 1531 St. Mary has been Protestant. Today it is the main church of the Lübeck district of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Northern Germany. Services are held on Sundays and Church festivals from 10 o'clock. From Mondays to Saturdays in the summer season and in Advent there is a short prayer service with organ music at noon (after the parade of the figures of the Astronomical Clock), which tourists and locals are invited to attend. Since 15 March 2010 there has been an admission charge of two euros for visitors.[19]
Astronomical clock
The
At noon, the clock chimes and a procession of figures passes in front of the figure of Christ, who blesses each of them. The figures originally represented the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire; since the post-War reconstruction, they represent eight representatives of the peoples of the world.
Carillon
After the War, a carillon with 36 bells was installed in the South Tower. Some of the bells came from
Bells
The 11 historic bells of the church originally hung in the South Tower in a bell loft 60 metres (200 ft) high. An additional seven bells for sounding the time were made by Heinrich von Kampen in 1508–1510 and installed in the roof spire. During the fire in the air raid of 1942, the bells are reported to have rung again in the upwind before crashing to the ground. The remains of two bells, the oldest bell, the "Sunday bell" by Heinrich von Kampen (2,000 kg (2.0 long tons), diameter 1,710 mm (67 inches), strike tone a0) and the tenor bell by Albert Benningk from 1668 (7,134 kg (7.021 long tons), diameter 2,170 mm (85 inches), strike tone a0F#0), were preserved as a memorial in the former Schinkel Chapel, at the base of the South Tower The "Council and Children's Bell" made in 1650 by Anton Wiese , which used to be rung for the short prayer services before council meetings and for christenings, was given to Strecknitz Mental Home in 1906 and was thus the only one of the historic bells to survive World War II. Today it hangs in the tower of what is now the University of Lübeck hospital.
The set of bells in the North Tower now consists of seven bells. It ranks among the largest and deepest-pitched of its kind in northern Germany. The three baroque bells originate from Danzig churches, (Gratia Dei and Dominicalis from St. John's and Osanna from St. Mary's). After the Second World War, these bells from the "Hamburger bell cemetery" were hung in the tower as temporary replacement bells.
In 1951 the German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer donated a new bell. In 1985 three additional bells were made, completing the set. They have inscriptions referring to peace and reconciliation.
In 2005, the belfry was renovated. The steel bell frame from the reconstruction was replaced with a wooden one and the bells were hung directly on wooden yokes, so that the bells ring out with more brilliance.
This great peal is easily recognised because of the unusual disposition (intervals between the individual bells); the series of whole tone steps between bells 1–5 results in a distinctive sound with added vibrancy due to the tone of the historic bells.
Number. | Name / Function | Made by | Year made | Weight | Diameter | Nominal | Place of origin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bourdon bell (Pulsglocke) | Friedrich Wilhelm Schilling, Heidelberg | 1951 | 5,817 kilograms (5.725 long tons) | 2.10 metres (6.9 ft) | G-flat° +8 | – |
2 | Prayer and Sunday Bell (Bet- und Sonntagsglocke) | Gebr. Bachert, Bad Friedrichshall-Kochendorf | 1985 | 4,668 kilograms (4.594 long tons) | 1.93 metres (6.3 ft) | A-flat° +10 | – |
3 | Evening Bell (Abendglocke) or Peace Bell (Friedensglocke) | Bachert Bros., Bad Friedrichshall-Kochendorf | 1985 | 2,994 kilograms (2.947 long tons) | 1.71 metres (5.6 ft) | b° +9 | – |
4 | Gratia Dei | Johann Gottfried Anthonÿ, Danzig | 1740 | 2,400 kilograms (2.362 long tons) | 1.65 metres (5.4 ft) | c' +5 | Danzig, St. Johann |
5 | Osanna | Benjamin Wittwerck, Danzig | 1719 | 1,740 kilograms (1.713 long tons) | 1.44 metres (4.7 ft) | d' +6 | St. Mary's Church, Gdańsk |
6 | Conciliation Bell (Versöhnungsglocke) | Bachert Bros., Bad Friedrichshall-Kochendorf | 1985 | 1,516 kilograms (1.492 long tons) | 1.32 metres (4.3 ft) | E-flat' +10 | – |
7 | Dominicalis | Johann Gottfried Anthonÿ, Danzig | 1735 | 850 kilograms (0.837 long tons) | 1.11 metres (3.6 ft) | f' +11 | Danzig, St. Johann |
See also
Notes
- ^ German: mit größter Wahrscheinlichkeit die erste und einzige gotische Orgelfassade mit einem Zweiunddreißigfuß-Prinzipal (tiefste Pfeife rund 11 Meter lang) in der damaligen abendländischen Welt
- ^ It is rumoured that he was offered the post of organist as Buxtehude's successor but refused. Lübeck travel guides ascribe this refusal to a condition that he would have had to marry Buxtehude's daughter.
References
- ^ "Hanseatic City of Lübeck". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ Thiesen 2007, pp. 69–160.
- ^ Thiesen 2007, pp. 291 ff.
- ^ Bauverein 1958.
- ^ Keats 2013, p. 32.
- ^ Keats 2013, pp. 39–42.
- ^ Keats 2013, pp. 44–48.
- ^ Keats 2013, pp. 48–49.
- ^ Keats 2013, p. 48.
- ^ Spicha 2000.
- ^ Hasse 1983, p. 200.
- ^ Zimmermann 1988, pp. 26–27.
- ^ Christliche Kunst 1914, p. 23.
- ^ Wölfel 2004, p. 49.
- ^ Kraft 1968, p. 1.
- ^ Wölfel 2004, p. 65.
- ^ Kreis der Freunde und Förderer der Kirchemusik an St. Marien Lübeck.
- ^ Organ Database.
- ^ Hamburger Abendblatt 2009.
Bibliography
English sources
- Gorra, Michael (2004). The Bells in Their Silence: Travels Through Germany. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691117659.
- Keats, Jonathan (2013). Forged: Why Fakes are the Great Art of Our Age. OUP USA. ISBN 9780199928354.
- Snyder, Kerala J. (1987). Dieterich Buxtehude: Organist in Lübeck. University of Rochester Press. ISBN 9781580462532.
German sources
- Grewolls, Antje (1999). Die Kapellen der norddeutschen Kirchen im Mittelalter: Architektur und Funktion [The Chapels of the North German Churches in the Middle Ages: Architecture and Function] (in German). Ludwig. ISBN 9783980548038.
- "Zwei Euro: Die Marienkirche verlangt jetzt Eintritt" [Two Euros: St. Mary's now charges admission]. Hamburger Abendblatt (in German). Retrieved 30 November 2014.
- Isenmann, Eberhard (2014). Die deutsche Stadt im Mittelalter 1150–1550: Stadtgestalt, Recht, Verfassung, Stadtregiment, Kirche, Gesellschaft, Wirtschaft [The German Town in the Middle Ages 1150–1550] (in German). Böhlau-Verlag. ISBN 9783412223588.
- Körs, Anna (2012). Gesellschaftliche Bedeutung Von Kirchenräumen: Eine Raumsoziologische Studie Zur Besucherperspektive [Social Significance of Church Spaces: A Spatial-Sociological Study on the Visitor's Perspective] (in German). Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. ISBN 9783531931692.
- Söring, Helmut (13 May 2002). "Der Meister-Fälscher von Lübeck" [The master forger of Lübeck]. Hamburger Abendblatt (in German). Retrieved 24 November 2014.
- Spicha, Reinhold (9 March 2000). "Waren mittelalterliche Bronzetaufbecken auch verkörperte Raummasse?" [Were mediaeval bronze baptismal fonts also physical standards for volume?] (in German). Retrieved 16 November 2014.
Indirect German sources
Citations referring to the following are indirect citations via the German Wikipedia article. The German article cites the following references:
- Bauverein der Marienkirche (1958). "Die Gestaltung des Innenraums der Marienkirche in Lübeck. Anlage zur Wettbewerbsausschreibung" [The interior design of St. Mary's Church, Lübeck. Appenidix on invitation to tender]. In Weimann, Horst (ed.). Jahrbuch des Bauvereins (in German).
- "Notice". Die Christliche Kunst (in German). 1914.
- Corino, Karl, ed. (1996). Universalgeschichte des Fälschens. 33 Fälle, die die Welt bewegten. Von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart (in German). Eichborn. ISBN 9783821813844.
- Gebrannte Grösse: Die Hanse. Macht des Handels (in German). Monumente Publikationen der Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz. 2002. ISBN 3935208138.
- Dittrich, Konrad (1998). 50 Jahre Lübecker Knaben Kantorei an St. Marien [50 years of the Lübeck Boys Choir at St. Mary's] (in German). Lübeck.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Goll, Klaus Rainer (1993). "Die Glocken von St. Marien: Ein Briefwechsel zwischen Peter Guttkuhn und Günter Grass" [The bells of St. Mary's. An exchange of letters between Peter Guttkuhn and Günter Grass]. Lübecker Autoren und ihre Stadt: zur 850-Jahr-Feier Lübecks (in German). Monumente Schmidt-Römhild. ISBN 9783795032098.
- Goll, Joachim (1962). "Kunstfälscher" [Art forgers]. Deutsche Kunst und Denkmalpflege (in German) (1 ed.). Berlin: E.A.Seemann Verlag Leipzig.
- Grass, Günter (1997). Die Rättin [The Rat] (in German). Göttingen: Steidl. ISBN 3882434929.
- Grundmann, Günther (1955). "Lübeck". Deutsche Kunst und Denkmalpflege (in German). Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag München: 81ff.
- Hasse, Max (1983). Die Marienkirche zu Lübeck [Die Marienkirche zu Lübeck] (in German). Deutscher Kunstverlag. ISBN 3422007474.
- Hirschmann, Peter (1955). "'Was soll aus den gefälschten Wandbildern in St. Marien zu Lübeck werden?" [What should be done with the fake murals in St. Mary's Church, Lübeck?]. Deutsche Kunst und Denkmalpflege (in German). Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag München: 106ff.
- Jöns, Heike (1996). "Die Lübecker Marienkirche als Hauptbau der kathedralgotischen Backsteinarchitektur im Ostseeraum". Zeitschrift des Vereins für Lübeckische Geschichte und Altertumskunde (in German) (76): 223–254.
- Kraft, Walter (1968). Drei Orgeln in St. Marien zu Lübeck [Three Organs in St. Mary's Church, Lübeck] (in German).
- "Die Orgel in St. Marien zu Lübeck" [The organs at St. Mary' in Lübeck] (in German).
- "Lothar Malskat gestorben" [Lothar Malskat dead]. Michel Rundschau (in German) (7): 538. 1988.
- Museum Folkwang. Exhibitions catalogue of Essen and Berlin: Fälschung und Forschung [Exhibitions catalogue of Essen and Berlin: Forgery and Research] (in German).
- "Lübeck, Deutschland (Schleswig-Holstein) – Sankt Marienkirche, Totentanzorgel" [Lübeck, Germany (Schleswig-Holstein) – St. Mary's Church, Danse Macabre Organ] (in German). Retrieved 23 November 2014.
- Roßmann, Ernst (1955). "Naturwissenschaftliche Untersuchung der Wandmalereien im Chorobergaden der Marienkirche zu Lübeck, anlässlich des Lübecker Bilderfälscherprozesses" [Scientific study of the murals in the clerestory of the choir of St. Mary's Church, Lübeck, on the occasion of the Lübeck picture forgery trial]. Deutsche Kunst und Denkmalpflege (in German). Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag München: 99ff.
- Scheper, Hinnerk (1955). "Restaurieren und Berufsethos" [Restoration and Professional Ethics]. Deutsche Kunst und Denkmalpflege (in German). Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag München: 109ff.
- Thiesen, Tamara (2007). 'Benedikt Dreyer (in German). Kiel. ISBN 9783937719573.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - Wehlte, K. (1955). "Was ging in Lübeck vor?" [What happened in Lübeck?]. Maltechnik (in German) (61) (1 ed.). Berlin: E.A.Seemann Verlag Leipzig: 11ff.
- Wölfel, Dietrich (2004). Die wunderbare Welt der Orgel. Lübeck als Orgelstadt [The Wonderful World of the Organ: Lübeck as an organ town] (in German) (2 ed.). Lübeck: Schmidt-Römhild. ISBN 3795012619.
- Zimmermann, Friedrich (1988). "Der Wiederaufbau der Lübecker Grosskirchen" [The Restoration of the major Lübeck Churches]. Der Wagen (in German): 18–38 (p. 26 f.). OCLC 643861057.
External links
- Official Web site (in German)